 Literary elements are the components of a literary piece, such as character, setting, plot, theme, and ending/resolution.

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Fiction is books that are made up by the author, or are not true.
Examples: Harry Potter books, The Hunger Games,
The Hobbit

 An author’s perspective is their beliefs or attitude expressed in their writing.

 An author’s purpose is the reason an author decides to write about a specific topic. Then, once a topic is selected, the author must decide whether his purpose for writing is to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain his/her ideas to the reader.

Character development is the process of creating a character's background, physicality, appearance, and personality.
There are two categories of character types:
 Flat OR Round
 Static OR Dynamic
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There are two ways to characterize:
 Direct characterization
 Indirect characterization

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 Flat:
Characterized by a single dominant trait, role, or function
Often a stereotypical character like
The whiny person who always dies in horror movies
The sneaky servant
The jealous lover

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 Round:
Fully developed with multiple & sometimes contradictory traits
The reader often sees their thoughts, motivations, etc.
Character seems like a “real person”

 Static: the character does NOT undergo an important change in their insight, understanding, values, etc. in the course of the story
 Dynamic: the character DOES undergo an important change in their insight, understanding, values, etc. in the course of the story

 The writer tells the reader what the character is like
Example:
• “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother.”
The writer is directly telling the reader the personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”

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The reader must draw their own conclusions based on the character’s:
Speech
What does the character say?
How does the character speak?
Thoughts
What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?
Effect on others
What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people?
How do other characters feel/behave in reaction to the character?
Actions
What does the character do?
How does the character behave?
Looks
What does the character look like?
How does the character dress?

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Character point of view is the attitude or outlook of a narrator or character in a piece of literature, a movie, or another art form.
What words do they use when talking, or describing things? How does the character speak (short, breathless sentences, or long, rambling ones)? What are the character’s emotions and how do they describe or show them? How might they compare one thing to another?
For example, an older person might compare a bright sunset to a bomb bursting over his aircraft carrier during the Second World War, whereas a teenager might compare it to the flash of fire in her boyfriend’s eyes.

 Point of view is the perspective from which the story is being told. The three main points of view in literary texts are omniscient, third person limited, and first person.

Story is told by one of the characters
Character can be a participant or observer
Uses “I
Example: As I walked up the hill, I realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound from the cardinal who was nearly always singing from the top of the maple tree. I thought I saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when I looked again it was gone. Still, I shuddered as I felt a silent threat pass over me like a cloud over the sun.

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Three Types:
Limited/Limited Omniscient- most common today
“Over the Shoulder” perspective
Narrator describes events perceived by the viewpoint character
Writers can shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another
Omniscient
Narrator knows all the facts
Injects narrator’s own perspective & reputation into story
Common in classic novels
Detached
“Fly on the Wall” perspective
Objective- without character’s thought or opinions
Often used in newspaper articles

There are two types of conflict in literature:
 External conflict is between a character and an outside force.
 Internal conflict is between a character and himself.

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Man vs. Man (a character struggles with another character)
Man vs. Nature (a character struggles with a force of nature)
Man vs. Society (a character or a group of characters struggle against the society in which they live)

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The character’s struggle takes place in his or her own mind.
Usually has something to do with a choice (right and wrong)

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 Exposition is information essential to understanding the work. The exposition is also that part of a story in which important background information is revealed to the reader.
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Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry is left at the Dursley’s
Voldemort is introduced through Dumbledore &
McGonagall’s discussion
Harry and life with the Dursleys is introduced

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Rising action is a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest
The “hook”
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 Where the action kicks into gear & it begins to get interesting
 Where the conflict is introduced
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry begins talking to the snake at the zoo & the glass disappears

 Climax in literature is the ultimate point of tension in the story. It is what you have been waiting for throughout the entire book or play.
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Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone when Harry, Ron, & Hermione go through the challenges protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone
When Harry faces Quirrell & Voldemort

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Falling action is the events of a dramatic or narrative plot following the climax.
Where the author ties up loose ends that remain after the climax
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Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry wakes up in the hospital
We find out Ron is ok
Dumbledore tells Harry about Nicolas Flamel & the fate of the Sorcerer’s Stone
Gryffindor wins the House Cup

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Resolution is the outcome/conclusion/ending (conflict has been resolved).
Story wraps up
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 Long-term effects of conflict are revealed
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone
Exam results
Packing up
Harry is picked up by the Dursley’s at the train station
They meet Ron, his family, & Hermione
Foreshadows Harry’s summer with them (and the fact that they don’t know he can’t perform magic!)

 A flashback is a narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current events, in order to provide background for the current narration. By giving material that occurred prior to the present event, the writer provides the reader with insight into a character's motivation and or background to a conflict.
Example:
In Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon (first published in
1940) the hero, Rubashov, spends hours in his prison cell thinking about his own past and reliving it, so to speak.

 Foreshadowing refers to the use of indicative words/phrases and hints that set the stage for a story to unfold and give the reader a hint of something that is going to happen without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense.
Example: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Throughout the play both Romeo and Juliet constantly refer to death, murder and suicide. One of the most obvious examples is Juliet's fake death scene after drinking Friar Lawrence's potion.

 A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event.
Example: At the end of Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, in which the plodding and determined tortoise wins a race against the much-faster yet extremely arrogant hare, the stated moral is "slow and steady wins the race". However, other morals can often be taken from the story itself; for instance, that "arrogance or overconfidence in one's abilities may lead to failure or the loss of an event, race, or contest".

 Plot is the events that make up a story. Plot development is how the story progresses.
Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution are part of plot development.

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The protagonist is considered to be the main character or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or poem. It may also be referred to as the "hero" of a work.
The antagonist is a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works again the main character, or protagonist, in some way.

 Setting is the time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which a situation occurs. Settings include the background, atmosphere or environment in which characters live and move, and usually include physical characteristics of the surroundings.

 A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic.
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Example: Amigo Brothers
Friendship is more important than winning
Competition cannot break friendship
Friends care about each other
Strong friendships can survive even the toughest times

 Character traits are elements of a character's personality that define who the character is.